ment whatever in the contemplation of its fairest scenes, or in the possession of its richest products. Now, can such a theory consist with the following direct communications from the lips of the inspired writer?"Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5). Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor. x. 31). Strangely dissonant with such extracts from the page of inspiration, is the following unqualified statement which occurs in the 103rd page of "Precious Truth:" "A Christian has flesh as well as spirit, and getting advantages in the world is the devil's gift."

Specimens similar to the foregoing, of the religious peculiarities developed in the work before me, might very easily be produced. But I will spare the time and patience of your readers, and in conclusion, call on them to join in the supplication which I unfeignedly offer up on behalf of the Plymouth Brethren, "O Lord, grant to them that are in error, the light of thy truth, for the sake of our only Mediator and Redeemer Jesus Christ."

I should have remarked, as one especial means of proselytism employed by the Plymouth Brethren, their pertinacious demand for express passages of Holy Scripture, in support of the system of their opponents, their unfair exposure of certain detached parts of our English Liturgy, and their constant reference to the supposed corruptions of our church, in contradistinction from their own. Such cobwebs being continually (though with pure intentions,) spread by them to entangle the weaker brethren, and particularly "devout women," it were well for those who are exposed to them, to secure time for the purpose of private examination of the points proposed for investigation; of scriptural study; of earnest prayer for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and of conference with enlightened friends of our National Establishment. How far this Anti-shibboleth party are secure against the snares of Socinianism itself, time will ultimately decide.

Πιστις.

ON THE PHRASE "THE UNCOVENANTED MERCIES OF GOD." To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

In your Number for January last, there is a letter signed "A Searcher after Truth, and a very old Friend," in which the writer inquires what is to be understood by the phrase "the uncovenanted mercies of God." He says, "It appears to me that we are not authorised to suppose that God can shew mercy to fallen creatures, consistently with His other revealed attributes, except through the covenant of grace; and that we hardly know what we talk about when we speak of uncovenanted mercies toward those who are living under the sound of the Gospel." In all this I agree with him; but I think he has mistaken the use of the phrase "uncovenanted mercies," in supposing that it is even applied to those who are living under the sound of the Gospel; at least I never considered it to be so applied, but only employed in reference to those who had not that benefit, but were living in heathen darkness, not having had the glad tidings of the Gospel made known

to them. They are the persons who, not being members of the covenant of grace by baptism, and therefore not having a covenant-title to God's promises through Christ, must be left, as I understand the phrase, to the uncovenanted mercies of God; that is, in fact, to such mercy as God may be pleased to extend to them for Christ's sake, though they are not actual members of the Christian covenant.

Such I conceive to be the use of the term. As to its correctness, I do not know that it is strictly defensible, since no mercy on the part of God to fallen man, whether Christian or Heathen, can be said, strictly speaking, to be uncovenanted, it being all the result of the gracious covenant made between God and man through Christ; or, as it is sometimes stated, between the three Persons of the Godhead, for the great purpose of man's redemption; but in the way of distinction, as applied to those within the pale of that covenant and the heathens that are without it, the expression has a meaning, though the phrase itself may not be a proper one.

M. X.

**It would be easy to shew, if it were necessary, by numerous extracts, that the phrase which our correspondent has heard applied only to the heathen, is used with reference to Protestant Dissenters, to the members of the Church of Scotland, and to all non-Episcopalians. We are not now arguing the doctrine, but stating the fact. But even where the exact phrase is not used, the idea is often conveyed in other words; it is indeed the very weft of the whole Oxford Tract system. We will copy a passage from a sermon entitled "Heaven and its Inhabitants," which at this very time some of the friends of that system are circulating. As the author is only a B. A., and therefore we presume a very young man, we will not obtrude his name; hoping that as he grows older and wiser he will learn to address Dissenters in a manner less dogmatical, and better calculated to win them from the error of their way. It is not because a young man, fresh from his under-graduateship, repeats seven times in six lines, "I say," "I do not say," "I said," and "I never did say," that he will convince Churchmen, or reclaim Dissenters.

"Now observe, though I say dissent is a great sin, I do not say that every Dissenter is a great sinner-oh, no, brethren-as I said before-so I say now-though Christ has no where said he will save out of his Church, I believe he has saved many and many pious Dissenters, who have not known they were doing wrong by leaving the Church. In a word, I do not say-I never did say, that no Dissenter can be saved-I only say that Christ does not positively promise that they shall, because his promises are left to the Church, and that only. In the same way, if a person was to promise that he would give a reward to every child in our parish, it would not follow that he meant to give a reward to no other parish except this. I think then you must now understand my meaning-if you are Dissenters from the Church, Christ may save you; and oh, God grant he may-but he does not positively say he will. In the same way, Christ when he was on earth did good to some of the people of Samaria, though he plainly said, Salvation was of the Jews.' What the Jews were then, the Christian Church is now ;-namely, that to which are left all the promises of God. What Samaria was then, that the Dissenters are now, people to which Christ in his mercy may do good, but still to whom he does not promise that he will, because, as I just said, his promises are to his Church and to that alone."

The Oxford Tract sect speak in this dogmatical and insulting strain of the Church of Scotland, and the Lutheran and Reformed churches. They hope they may escape by "uncovenanted mercies."

ON REMARKABLE DREAMS AND SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENA.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

YOUR Correspondent, in commenting upon an "alleged appearance of a departed spirit," which he does not seem to credit, desires that the " evidence of such facts should be so given that it may be duly tested." But what amount of testimony is requisite, in order to convince a man? The Bible says that "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established:" which rule we assume to be just, where the witnesses are credible. Though far myself from being inclined superstitiously to believe every account of an apparition or supernatural appearance: yet so many of such facts have been narrated to me by truly honest persons, that I cannot reasonably doubt of their having taken place. Public attention also has been drawn to this subject by the following narrative, repeated in the Gentleman's Magazine of last month; after giving which, I shall add two others of a similar description, related to myself by the parties concerned in them, and whose names I can furnish, as they are still alive.

"Eight days before the murder of the late Mr. Perceval (of whom he had no previous knowledge whatever), Mr. Williams dreamt that he was in the lobby of the House of Commons, and saw a small man enter, dressed in a blue coat and white waistcoat. Immediately afterwards, he saw a man, dressed in a brown coat with yellow basket metal buttons, draw a pistol from under his coat, and discharge it at the former, who instantly fell, the blood issuing from a wound a little below the left breast. He saw the murderer seized by some gentlemen who were present, and observed his countenance; and on asking who the gentleman was who was shot, he was told that it was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He then awoke, and mentioned the dream to his wife, who made light of it. But in the course of the night, the dream occurred three times without the least variation. He was now so much impressed with it, that he felt much inclined to give notice to Mr. Perceval, but was dissuaded by some friends whom he consulted; who told him that he would only get himself treated as a fanatic. On the evening of the eighth day after, he received the account of the murder, the murder having occurred two days previously. Being in London a short time subsequently, he found, in various print shops, a representation of the scene, and recognised in it the countenances and dress of the parties, the blood on Mr. Perceval's waistcoat, and the peculiar yellow basket buttons on Bellingham's coat, precisely as he had seen them in his dream. To this account by Dr. Abercrombie, a person to whom Mr. Williams had more than once circumstantially related his dream (Dr. Carlyon) adds, that Mr. Hill, a barrister, and grandson of Mr. Williams, states that Mr. Williams heard the report of the pistol, saw the blood fly and stain the waistcoat, and saw the colour of the face change. He likewise mentions that on the day following the dream, he went to Godolphin with Messrs. Robert W. Fox, and his brother Mr. W. Williams, and on his return home informed them of his dream, and of the uneasiness of his mind on the subject; uneasiness, in a great measure arising from his doubts about the propriety of announcing a dream which had made so great an impression on himself, to the friends of Mr. Perceval; but he allowed himself to be laughed out of any such intention."

My second narrative is as follows:-A respectable tradesman had a pious young man in his employ, who subsequently went abroad in the capacity of a Christian teacher. He had left England some time, when the following appearance of him to his old employer took place. The latter had one night retired to rest, but was yet wide awake, when Mr. seemed to stand at the foot of his bed, and drawing aside the curtain, looked at him intently. "What," cried his friend, using his familiar name, "" you look as if you were dying!" The apparition still gazed upon him for a moment, and then disappeared. So fully satisfied was he with the truth of the impression, that he CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 29

2 N

marked in his day-book the precise date of this appearance; and several months afterwards, upon hearing of the death of Mr. found that it had taken place on that very day on which he had seen his apparition. The tradesman's wife also confirmed to me the statement given by her husband.

A gentleman related to me the following circumstance. He was in the East Indies, when his wife and one of his children being in delicate health, he found it necessary to send his family home to England, professional engagements not allowing of his accompanying them at that time. A month or two afterwards, he dreamed that one of his little ones had died at sea; yet not the child that had been an invalid, but one who had left India in good health. So fully persuaded was he of the circumstance, that in the morning he wrote down a circumstantial account of it, with the date and name of the child. Many months afterwards, he received intelligence of his family's safe arrival in England, with the exception of the self-same child, who had died at sea on the very day that its father had seen it in the vision of his dream.

For myself, I always disbelieved in the tales of supernatural appearances and sounds, until my incredulity was shaken by the account given in the memoirs "of the Wesley family" by Dr. Adam Clarke; and subsequently, by a similar occurrence witnessed by several intelligent persons, whose veracity would not for a moment be doubted by any who knew them.

f

R.M. M.

*** We think we have inserted upon this subject quite as much as-perhaps more than—is likely to be profitable. How different are the effects of the same narrative upon different minds. Dr. Clarke's detailed account of " Old Jeffrey" which shook our correspondent's incredulity, would have convinced us that the disturbance at Epworth parsonage was a trick; even if we had not formed that opinion long before. The piety, veracity, and mental ability of the writer of the above paper (who, of course, has sent us his name) are unquestioned; but has he personally scrutinized all the minute particulars of the above narratives with the care which he would consider requisite, if he were in a jury-box-deciding upon a case which involved the life or death of a fellowcreature? And even if he has done so, has he considered whether the proportion of remarkable coincidences is greater than might be looked for, without any miracle, considering the innumerable dreams dreamed, of which not one in millions or billions is pretended to be verified? Beyond those which are vouched for under the seal of divine inspiration, it is not perhaps possible to substantiate any one in particular, as clearly supernatural; though we know from holy writ, that there are links of intercourse between the unseen and the visible world; and dreams are expressly included as among the ways in which God has spoken, and still may, if he see fit, speak to man.

Another correspondent has sent us a statement from a narrative recently published, (or rather re-published) in an enlarged memoir of a very excellent man, Mr. Spence, a bookseller at York, who died in 1824, having been for fifty-seven years a local Methodist preacher in that city. In the narrative is interwoven some account of his friend Mr. Burdsall, who died the same year, having been, says his monumental tablet, "for upwards of sixty-two years employed in preaching the gospel of the Grace of God to sinners, in nearly every part of Yorkshire." He wrote a narrative of his life, which, says Mr. Burdekin, Mr. Spence's biographer, "has been read by thousauds with plea

sure and spiritual profit; and that part in which he relates his visit to Calverley Hall has always drawn the attention of the curious; and the extraordinary circumstances there narrated, he always substantiated to those friends who conversed with him on the subject." We mean no disrespect to Mr. Burdekin or his departed friend: but we must remark, that the awful fact of the machinations of Satan should not be connected with questionable narratives — questionable we mean, not as doubting the veracity of the relators, but as not discerning the applicability of the facts. We will quote the story as sent to us, and as it appears in Mr. Burdekin's book. We have no inclination_very far indeed from it-to violate the seriousness which Mr. Burdekin entreats upon such a subject; and we are the more serious, because we fear that such narratives, when related (however devoutly) for the purpose of building weighty truths upon them, may have an injurious tendency; indeed we hardly like to admit them into our pages, even for the purpose of gravely remarking upon them. Mr. Burdekin writes:

"In bringing this subject (which is justly considered extraordinary,) more particularly before the public, it is hoped the reader will be induced to treat it with due seriousness. Mr. Burdsall was a man of strong faith, and of great natural courage, his heart being fixed on a firm belief of the truths of Christianity. 'Satan's usual method of temptation is to excite strongly to sin, to blind the understanding, and inflame the passions; and having thus succeeded, he triumphs by insults and reproaches.' In this instance it is probable he may have been permitted to exercise his skill out of the ordinary way, to terrify and shake the confidence of this upright Christian. That he is continually attempting the disturb. ance and discouragement of such as are faithful, is manifest from many parts of the word of God. Your adversary the devil,' saith St. Peter, like a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you;' and again, above all, Taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil.' He relates:

"After this, I had a call to preach at Calverley, a village in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Having been invited to this place for nearly two years, the circumstance of not having visited it began to press heavily upon my mind. At length, therefore, I consented to go, and the time fixed upon was on Saturday evening, in the month of January, when there happened to be much snow upon the ground, and the weather was very severe. Early in the afternoon I set out from home, having to preach that evening at Calverley-Hall. At seven o'clock I preached to a large congregation, and spent the remainder of the evening in an agreeable conversation with an old widow and her two sons. About twelve o'clock, I was conducted up one pair of stairs, into a large room, which was surrounded with an oaken wainscot, after the ancient plan: some packs of wool were lying on one side of the room. After my usual devotion, I laid down to rest. I had not been asleep long, before I thought something crept up to my breast, pressing me much, I was greatly agitated, and struggled hard to awake. In this situation, according to the best judgment I could form, the bed seemed to swing, as if it had been hung in slings, and I was thrown out on the floor. When I came to myself, I soon got on my knees, and returned thanks to God that I was not hurt, and sought his aid and protection for the future. After committing myself once more to his care, I got into bed the second time. After lying for about fifteen minutes, reasoning with myself whether I had been thrown out of bed, or whether I had got out in my sleep; to satisfy me fully on this point, I was clearly thrown out a second time from between the bed-clothes to the floor, by just such a motion as before described. I quickly got on my knees to pray to the Almighty for my safety, and to thank him that I was not hurt by what had happened. After this, I crept under the bed to feel if there was anything there, but I found nothing. Once more committing my all into His hands where only safety can be found, I got into bed for the third time. Just as I laid myself down, I was led to ask, Am I in my senses?' I answered, 'Yes, Lord, if I ever had any.' I had not laid above a minute, before I was thrown out of bed the third time. I again had recourse to prayer, calling on the name of the Lord for aid. After this, I once more crept under the bed to ascertain whether all the cords were fast, and examined until I touched all the bed-posts, but I found all right. This was about one o'clock. I now put on my clothes, not attempting to lie down any more; and for six hours I experimentally